Shopping for a new look? This winter it's all about edgy tough style with softening touches. Check out our favorite winter trends: animal print, studding, leather, colorful blazers, and military inspired cuts.
Animal Prints
It's beginning to look a lot like the 80's, with zebra, cheetah, leopard and unidentified animal-style prints adorning everything from pants to accessories. You'll continue to see it spill over to desk accessories, locker accessories and room accents like pillows and comforters. Animal prints are a great accent to monochromatic (one-colored) color-blocked looks. Only the bold can pull off the above allover print!
Studded Boots and Jackets
Bring on the bling machine -- this season the studs are everywhere. Boots, handbags, leather jackets, denim jackets, pants, gloves, shirt collars -- you name it, someone's studded it for Winter 2013. You can DIY pretty easily, transforming an old denim jacket with studs purchased at a craft store like Joann's or Michael's, a pencil or ruler to plan your layout and keep it straight, and a metal tool to bend the spikes down on the reverse side of the fabric. Not feeling crafty? You can buy a pre-studded version just about anywhere!
Leather Jackets and Accessories
This season's hard edge gets even tougher with leather accents, outerwear and accessories. No one wants to copy [kwlink 16011]Kanye West's[/kwlink] leather A-line skirt over leather pants from the 12-12-12 concert, but any fashionable girl would love to be seen in a leather A-line skirt or pair of pants accented with a silky blouse and high leather boots. A long military cut leather coat or cute short jacket looks great in leather, and of course leather boots and purses are always in style.
Colorful Blazers
Corduroy for fall, velvet for winter, cotton for spring and linen for summer -- that's the general rule of blazer fabrics by season. This year, no matter what the fabric, they're all colorful! Gone is last season's nautical look with its red-white-blue color scheme. 2013 is all about colors that pop, accent, catch the eye and flatter your complexion. Berry colors are beautiful for winter, replacing last year's jewel tones, and come spring, we'll see some lovely colors many people would characterize with fruits -- lemon yellow, lime green, cherry red and grape. We're also still seeing a pop of neon from last season which just doesn't want to go away, but that's fine by us!
The Military Look
Military-inspired cuts are back, just as they were in the 80's, but this time, it's more tailored and fitted to flatter the figure. Skinny jeans topped with a short cropped military jacket, a double-breasted jacket or blouse with brass buttons, or a long, lean coat that hits just above the knees really sets up a great look. We're also seeing jackets with a peplum back. Peplum is defined as "A short flared, gathered, or pleated strip of fabric attached at the waist of a woman's jacket, dress, or blouse." It adds a feminine flair to a tailored, masculine cut, which we approve of!
Have your Say
What styles would you like to try this winter? Let us know in your comments below!
